Timeless themes give life to Immortals
Footloose remake tries out new moves while romantic whirlwind Like Crazy evokes the thrill of young love
IMMORTALS
Henry Cavill stars as Theseus, the Greek demi- god who struggles with his humanity in this action spectacular directed by visual stylist Tarsem Singh. The images are jaw- dropping, but for all the sumptuous pictures, the narrative thrust never tapers to a fine point, as Theseus finds himself defending humankind, as well as the gods. Freida Pinto feels entirely wasted as Phaedra, a potent oracle. Then again, Singh seems more interested in the sex scenes than the mythological roots of the story — which push at the very nature of man’s divinity. For all the limitations, the movie still finds the pulse of the timeless story, because it establishes a believable ancient reality, where gods and humans lived side by side. And if that’s not good enough, imagine Mickey Rourke inside a toothy helmet. Special features include It’s No Myth, alternative opening scene, alternative ending, deleted scenes and spotlights.
LIKE CRAZY
The engine of young love revs so high, you can live off the fumes for weeks, months, even years. But eventually, you come down. And all that time lost in the lofty reaches of physical and emotional ecstasy can leave a love warrior in withdrawal. Certainly, there is a deep ache in the heart of both Anna ( Felicity Jones) and Jacob ( Anton Yelchin). Two young people who fell in love during their last semester of college, these two beautiful souls believed the world was their erotic oyster and set out to swallow it whole. But reality intervened. Director Drake Doremus captures these deliciously fleeting moments from a distance, allowing us to watch the love tide ebb and flow. The result is a collection of vignettes that finds all the dimensions of romantic love without falling prey to cliché. Special features include commentary with Drake Doremus, deleted scenes and alternative scenes.
PUNCTURE
Part Lincoln Lawyer, part Requiem for a Dream and part John Grisham thriller, this feature starring Chris Evans pulls together a very interesting, and rather urgent, health care puzzle. Evans stars as a drug- addicted, but very smart, lawyer who finds himself spearheading a case about medical equipment. Specifically, this is a movie about safety needles, a type of syringe that could prevent all accidental sticks. When a young nurse ends up infected with HIV, her spiralling health problem prompts an investigation into why medical suppliers refuse to carry the life- saving technology. Evans plays the flawed lawyer pursuing justice in one of his best performances, but just about everyone in
FOOTLOOSE
this modest movie delivers the goods, ensuring Puncture leaves a lasting mark. Special features include widescreen and digital transfer.
Despite plot similarities and an opening montage that features the original title script, this new Footloose from Hustle and Flow director Craig Brewer finds enough new moves to keep it interesting. Best of all, he casts real dancers in the lead roles, with Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough two- stepping through the drama. The casting of real dancers is probably the film’s biggest strength, because it ensures the film finds authentic beats, despite its central, and somewhat insane, dilemma of “no dancing allowed.” When the leads show what they can do with their bodies, we feel the throbbing soul of the story, and how dancing can connect us to the divine. Special features include audio commentary with Brewer, Re- imagining Footloose and deleted scenes.
SENNA
He’s practically a god to the rest of the world, but Ayrton Senna remains something of a cipher in North America. A Brazilian race- car driver who had the ability to win world championship titles in nearmiraculous fashion, Senna was accused of dangerous driving, reckless endangerment and all- around selfishness as he rocketed around the Formula One circuit in the 1990s, but as this documentary about Senna makes abundantly clear, the man was largely misunderstood. Asif Kapadia’s documentary about Senna gets surprisingly deep, in addition to being very moving, because the director finds all the universal notes that make the champion entirely human. It’s the human story that pulls us in and straps us into the cockpit for the duration, as we watch one man become a martyr to his sport — not for ego’s sake, but because he sincerely believed in the purity of racing as his personal form of expression. Special features include additional footage.
THE SALESMAN
Easily one of the most depressing movies you’ll ever have the bona fide pleasure of watching, Sebastien Pilote’s feature takes us into a remote corner of northern Quebec, where a car salesman goes about his daily life with all the spontaneity of a Swiss watch. He seems perfectly content, until tragedy streaks across the windshield of his life. He tries to wash it away with routine, but as Pilote makes abundantly clear, it’s almost impossible for human beings to change. A delicate portrait of the invisible people who surround us, The Salesman is the Quebecois version of Death of a Salesman — only more desperate. Special features include digital transfer.